GOP, Dems Agree: College Football Needs Reform

Do Republicans and Democrats agree on anything these days? Well, sure.
There was that resolution
declaring May 21 National Endangered Species Day--no big partisan fight
over that one. And where was the Washington gridlock for the resolution
about how music education benefits
all schoolchildren, not just those who aspire to someday compose
sonatas in the Salzburg court?

It's even possible for Republicans
and Democrats to agree on things people actually care about. Look at
how politicians from both sides of the aisle have condemned the Bowl
Championship Series (BCS), the complicated, arbitrary, possibly corrupt
process by which college football chooses its national champion. President Obama pledged to "throw [his] weight around" in the hope of
establishing a playoff system back in 2008. On the Republican side, Sen. Orrin Hatch
and Rep. Joe Barton have both held hearings on the subject.

In
anticipation of tonight's national
championship game between the Oregon Ducks and Robert Gibbs-backed
Auburn Tigers, The New York Times details the latest political efforts
to bring sanity--or least something resembling clarity--to bowl season.
Behold Playoff
PAC, a bipartisan political action committee set up by Washington
insiders "to support candidates who favor a college football playoff.
ensure flexibility to support candidates who favor a college football
playoff." Times reporter Katie Thomas runs down the the group's
high-powered leadership:

Four of Playoff PAC’s founding members,
including [Republican campaign finance lawyer Matthew] Sanderson, are
alumni of the University of Utah whose football team was undefeated in
2008 and, though it received a berth in a B.C.S. bowl, was shut out of
the national championship game because it did not play in one of the six
major conferences

But this is no ordinary group of adversaries
who are donating their free time and political skills to keep bowl
executives on their toes. Mr. Sanderson...and other members have
recruited prominent Washington names to aid their cause. Marcus S.
Owens, a former director of the I.R.S. division that oversees nonprofit
groups, volunteered to advise on the I.R.S. complaint, as did Joseph M.
Birkenstock, a former chief counsel for the Democratic National
Committee. Others who have donated time or money include Danny Diaz, a
former communications director for the Republican National Committee,
and a former Federal Election Commission chairman, Scott E. Thomas, a
Democrat.

The PAC's goal is the formation of "a playoff system in college
football more akin to the NCAA basketball tournament." In the meantime,
they've filed complaints with the IRS detailing "interest-free loans,
high salaries, lobbying payments and lavish perks for some bowl
executives," plus "accusations about illegal campaign contributions."
The Times details the group's charges, which come on the heels of Utah attorney
general's office opening an investigation
into whether the BCS violates antitrust laws.

Most recently,
Playoff PAC described to the I.R.S. an all-expenses-paid Caribbean
cruise that the Orange Bowl hosted for 40 athletic directors and
conference commissioners, and their spouses, although it appears no
business meetings were scheduled during the trip. ... In the
case of the nonprofit organization that runs the Fiesta Bowl, which is
hosting the national championship game, the I.R.S. complaint highlighted
evidence of potentially illegal campaign contributions. The complaint
also presented evidence that Fiesta Bowl officials had failed to
disclose on federal tax returns that they had engaged in lobbying.

Fiesta Bowl officials have acknowledged that the Arizona attorney
general’s office has begun an investigation and that the bowl’s board
has named a special committee to look into the allegations related to
the campaign contributions. The Arizona Republic reported in December
2009 that bowl employees were being reimbursed for donations to
political candidates.

BCS
officials say the charges are without merit. Fans of Utah, USC, Michigan
State, Boise State, and pretty much every
other school that's not Notre Dame or currently part of the Big
East hope this is not the case.

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